Tips for Building an Executive Protection Program

For many years, one of the most referenced articles on the topic of executive protection has been that which was written by Daintry Duffy in the CSO magazine.

Originally organized from information received from discussions with security executives and protection specialists back in 2005, we believe that you will discover that this article remains totally relevant today. The tips revealed in this article apply whether you are spending millions to protect all of your top executives or even if you hire the occasional security provider only when your CEO travels.

A summary of the tips presented in this article are as follows:

1. Conduct a thorough risk analysis to identify critical individuals in your organization, assess the impact to the company if they were lost and examine the risks that each of those people face.

2. An effective executive protection program has to be based on research and preparation rather than sheer muscle.

3. Make protection feel like a perk.

4. CSO’s have to educate the executive about security recommendations while still arguing for that executive’s buy-in.

5. Good information (and plenty of it) is the lifeblood of a successful executive protection program.

6. Don’t forget the family of the executive.

A theme that runs throughout the steps suggested above, is that sometimes the simplest steps can make a big difference to an executive’s security and safety.

If your organization has gathered a safety compliance team that includes executive protection in its charter, or perhaps your company has hired a security consultant to provide those services, then we would suggest that they read this articlefor more details and information regarding this most important topic.